What are your views about Hillsong Church (pls view report from Channel 7 Sydney Australia)?

Channel 7 in Sydney Australia did a tv program 1 week ago on the popularity of hillsong church over the world (1million followers) , controversial since its pastor Brian Houston refused to speak to the media previously. Does wealth and a successful church go hand in hand ? Why is it so popular amongst the younger generation ? Would be great to hear your opinions ...

Go to Youtube and view the hundreds of youth that are worshipping Christ from Hillsong. This is real worship. I have worshipped with this group repeatedly and know the real presence Jesus promised when 2 or more are gathered in His name. Such questions as this cause me to pause and ask a question. Why do the deadest and most hemorrhaging groups and sects insist on protecting their tradition? I have heard ministers claim that any change is compromise - baloney. That kind of thinking is one reason many local churches are empty and have a mean age of 200 years (yes, that was satirical). As long as the Gospel revealed in scripture is maintained in a uncompromising manner, tradition may be changed and customs should be relevant to the current generation.

On the other hand, a preaching of the Gospel that seeks to avoid the moral issues facing the current generation is avoiding the prophetic ministry the Church has always had. Professional worship is not all that we are called to but many churches are heavy on this and light on discipleship. It is the responsibility of the Church to know God's Word, be willing to scrap every tradition and external ceremony to stay relevant; but preach the historic Gospel of Christ to their generation.

Yet, it is not necessarily judging but discerning when we compare the historic Gospel revelation to what is being done today. Has the seeker sensitive movement, with all its $12 a pound love (coffee), as I heard one Vineyard Pastor put it, held to the Gospel revealed in scripture? Joel Olsteen refused on Larry King to say apart from Christ people are bound for an eternal hell. Shameful. Shameful.

Some movements have weakened the church in America and shifted out attention away from our purpose of reaching our generation for Christ. One group insists we must meet in a building and another insists doing so is pagan (both wrong).

What we must regain today is a solid scriptural base whereby we know God's living and written Word. This is itself a Miracle with the liberal move today and fewer/fewer people believing the Bible is the inerrant Word of God for life and practice. Fewer believe in a real Virgin birth and resurrection of Christ from the dead. We need to analyze what is occuring today without either abandoning the God/man revealed in the Divine/human Bible, or protecting our traditions and own way of doing things. The Church in each generation is responsible for reaching that generation with the Gospel of Christ to the glory of God. Social programs are a means to that end. Special programs are a means to that end. Outreach is a means to that end. Praise concerts are a means to that end.

May we not miss our primary purpose for all these secondary and supporting ministries. Thus it is a shame when a public minister dances around issues of clear national sin, and does not confront them when given the opportunity in a public interview. While the revival killing attitude of the stodgy denominations will do anything to keep the people they are loosing, the new groups need to gain a Biblical base that prevents ding-a-lings like the tattooed guy in Florida with the girly prosperity Angel.